Trading Card Preservation Society

Matt at Heartbreaking Cards and I made a podcast!

I had no idea what I was doing but that's never stopped me before!

In the podcast we talk about stuff. Some of it is even card stuff. Topps stuff, autograph stuff, more Topps stuff, and - well we talk a lot about Topps stuff to start out with. AND STUFF. We talk a lot about stuff.

Birdie sez: go click on the link if you want to hear a couple of guys talk about cards and stuff. But not if you want to hear about Birdie, because he's not in this episode. You don't have to listen, but Birdie would be disappointed.

If you do listen to us talking about stuff, leave a comment about what you thought. We know this one was kinda rough and you can tell us about all the times we said um and the weird hum because I don't know how to record properly and about all the mistakes I made, it won't hurt our feelings. Or tell us what you liked and we can pander to you in the second episode! Or third episode actually, this one has a part one and two because it was so long. Also *SPOILERS* we just might be answering some of your questions in part two!

So go ahead and click. it don't cost nothin.

September Vintage Card Show - All Star Hank

Yeah it's November and I'm finally getting around to showing off the stuff I got a month and a half ago at the most recent card show I went to. Y'all are fortunate I haven't deleted the blog altogether and moved to Pinterest by now. Anyway, this show took me by surprise and I was woefully under funded and disorganzed but I still managed to kick some ass at this show. Unlike some other show hauls I've shown off here I did not pick up one card that was a complete slam dunk over everything else. While I had the opportunity to blow my wad on one card I decided to spread the wealth around on a small pile of cards. About 17 or so if I recall correctly. I'll start off with the 'biggest' one of the bunch though since who knows when I'll post again. I haven't been the most consistant of bloggers this year you have to admit. So, better late than never, have a Hank.

Hank cards have been getting pricer as of late, but this one had snuck into the bargain box. '60s All Star cards can very often be tricky to track down, but luckily for me the NL All Stars are in the reasonably common 5th series instead of the somewhat scarce 6th series like the AL All Stars. The photo of Hank here is fantastic. The centering, not so much. I'm somewhat fascinated by that bottom border though. It looks like the yellow ink stopped early and left the bottom wood grain pink. I'm not even sure if that's a printer error or what. At any rate I approve of my pink-bordered Aaron.

The back is badly centered too. I never understood the cards that were miscut on one side and perfectly centered on the other. It pleases me that this card is off-centered correctly, which is a very unusual OCD reaction indeed. I did notice a mistake on the back as I'm pretty sure Hank hit 3 homers against the Yankees in the 1957 World Series and not the 1953 Series. Best part about this card though? It did this:

Awwww yisssss completed 1962 team set page. I'm actually pretty close to completing the '62 team set now. Or extremely far considering I still need those high number rookie cards. Stay tuned for moar old Barves on the next edition of "Card Show Haul From Weeks Ago".

Six Years

...I've been doing this. I don't know if I'll make seven. I don't know if I'll get out of bed tomorrow. Honestly this has been a wasted year and I've been some combination of wiped out, sick and depressed for the past four months now. I got a whole big box of cards to scan and post and I JUST DON WANNA DO IT. Maybe the new year will rejuvenate me, maybe it won't. Whatever the case I want to finish just one friggin thing this year if at all possible. Here's the last five cards I got from the May vintage show and never posted. Maybe the last cards from the last show I go to. Pissiness aside, here ya go.

Have a 1949 Bowman Jeff Heath card. Anything before 1950 is relatively difficult to find and this fills out one of the many holes in my vintage Braves team binder. I love the red and blue colors on this card but what is up with the smirk on this dude's face? It looks like he's getting a beej while posing for the photo or something.

1962 Topps Gaylord (snicker) Perry rookie card. While everyone's all in a tizzy about how every single born after this card was printed was a bunch of juiced up cheaters, Mr. Lord took used some different juice to get into the hall. *ptui* This HOF rookie cost me all of five bucks.

First draft of this was deleted for being over the top. The card speaks for itself. There's a reason this is my second-favorite card from the Mars Attacks set.

1971 Thurman Munson! One of the most iconic cards of all time! A card that intimidated me for years and prevented me from collecting the '71 Topps set! Got it for less than a blaster. Haven't bought much vintage since. Still afraid of iconic cards I can get for like, ten bucks online if I just put some effort into it. This is how far I've fallen collecting wise.

The big mamma jamma. Phil Niekro Rookie. And Phil Roof. Fun story: one of the first cards I ever owned was a 1971 Phil Roof that was way miscut that I got out of a junk box when I was about 8 or 9 for a penny. This is the last card I picked out from my last card show. Might be some symmetry there. Maybe not. It's the rookie card of my favorite player when I was a kid so if I do end up riding off into the sunset I'm at least ending on a high note.

Here's to 2013, it can't possibly suck as bad as 2012!

June Vintage Show Top Ten #1

I had hoped to get the June card show list done by June, but I didn't. Oh well. It doesn't matter a bit because I have this card and this card is awesome.

1962 Topps #320 Hank Aaron

Ok, if you don't appreciate crummy looking cards the way I do just scroll up so the top of the curl in the corner is at the bottom of your screen and you have an awesome looking Hank Aaron card. If you do that, the card loses all its character, but you may do so if you wish. Go ahead, break my heart. Don't look upon this noble, battle proven warrior who survived a flood of biblical proportions and wears his scars with pride. Go look at some pristine mollycoddled card that was forgotten in someone's closet for 50 years and bought by some unscrupulous dealer for pennies on the dollar when uncle Jimmy croaked and subsequently entombed in a plastic prison for all eternity never to know the life experiences of cards like this.

You have to love people who abuse their cards. They not only make everyone else's cards more valuable through attrition, but they also allow scrounging bottom feeders like me to get awesome old cards for dirt cheap. I mean, look at this card! It's a Hank Aaron! From 1962! Back when I first started collecting, 1962 was OLD. Like, ancient history old. 1963 cards I could find. 1962 cards were just too old. They may as well have been authentic copies of the Declaration of Independence. In the original Klingon, no less! The thing just looks old, they're made out of wood. Antiqued wood. Not like the wood laminate 1987 cards. Those aren't old, those are cheap. They are a particleboard bookshelf compared to a solid hardwood Chippendale. The furniture kind. 1962 Topps is the Mona Lisa, 1987 Topps is Gary Larson parodying Frank Zappa's homage to Salvador Dali ripping off Marcel Duchamp doing a piss take on the Mona Lisa. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but what I'm trying to say is 1962 Topps is freaking OLD. And I got a HANK AARON. For like, SEVEN FIDDY. With the decimal point in between the SEVEN and the FIDDY. Just because the thing got a little wet and decided to take some bits of another '62 card along with it at some point.

Ok so you don't feel sorry for this card. It's ugly and spoiled and worthless and what the hell, man. Why do I buy this crap when there's some super cool mojo out there to get instead. Shiny stuff with bits of things embedded in them and actual authenticated scribbles right on the card.  This is a bad card and I should feel bad. You have no sympathy for this crummy card.

Well then, how about the other water damaged 1962 Hank Aaron card in the same bargain box as this one? The one I didn't get? The one that was left behind? The one that remained abandoned and neglected while this lucky card got to come home with me and be loved and get scanned and posted on the internet and go into a special binder in a place of honor with all its friends from the 1962 set. How about that card? That poor, Forever Alone card? Feel bad about that card? Yes, there were two of them in there. Two water damaged '62 Hanks. Dangit, why couldn't someone have screwed up a 1960 Aaron too. Heck, that other Aaron might still be in that bargain box. Don't feel bad... You may one day have a chance to get a crummy awesome card your very own!

1962 Topps Wantlist

Everyone like the design? You're going to see plenty of it for the next 12 months.

Series 1 -- 10/88
1 Roger Maris -- New York Yankees
2 Jim Brosnan -- Cincinnati Reds
3 Pete Runnels -- Boston Red Sox
4 John DeMerit -- New York Mets
5 Sandy Koufax -- Los Angeles Dodgers
6 Marv Breeding -- Baltimore Orioles
7 Frank Thomas -- New York Mets
8 Ray Herbert -- Chicago White Sox
9 Jim Davenport -- San Francisco Giants
10 Bob Clemente -- Pittsburgh Pirates
11 Tom Morgan -- California Angels
13 Dick Howser -- Kansas City Athletics14 Bill White -- St. Louis Cardinals
15 Dick Donovan -- Cleveland Indians
17 Johnny Callison -- Philadelphia Phillies
18 Manager's Dream -- Mantle, Mays
19 Ray Washburn -- St. Louis Cardinals
20 Rocky Colavito -- Detroit Tigers
21 Jim Kaat -- Minnesota Twins
22a Checklist -- 1-88 -- numbers 121-176 on back
23 Norm Larker -- Houston Colt .45’s
24 Tigers Team -- Detroit Tigers
25 Ernie Banks -- Chicago Cubs
27 Chuck Cottier -- Washington Senators
29 Casey Stengel -- New York Mets
30 Ed Mathews -- Milwaukee Braves
31 Tom Tresh -- New York Yankees
32 John Roseboro -- Los Angeles Dodgers
33 Don Larsen -- San Francisco Giants
34 Johnny Temple -- Baltimore Orioles
35 Don Schwall -- Boston Red Sox
36 Don Leppert -- Pittsburgh Pirates
37 Tribe Hill Trio -- Latman, Perry, Stigman
38 Gene Stephens -- Kansas City Athletics
39 Joe Koppe -- California Angels
41 Cliff Cook -- Cincinnati Reds42 Jim King -- Washington Senators
43 Dodgers Team -- Los Angeles Dodgers
44 Don Taussig -- Houston Colt .45’s
45 Brooks Robinson -- Baltimore Orioles
46 Jack Baldschun -- Philadelphia Phillies
47 Bob Will -- Chicago Cubs
48 Ralph Terry -- New York Yankees
49 Hal Jones -- Cleveland Indians
50 Stan Musial -- St. Louis Cardinals
51 A.L. Batting Leaders -- Cash, Howard, Kaline, Piersall
53 A.L. Home Run Leaders -- Gentile, Killebrew, Mantle, Maris
54 N.L. Home Run Leaders -- Cepeda, Mays, Robinson
56 N.L. E.R.A. Leaders -- McCormick, O'Tolle, Simmons, Spahn
57 A.L. Win Leaders -- Barber, Bunning, Ford, Lary
59 A.L. Strikeout Leaders -- Bunning, Ford, Pascual, Pizzaro
60 N.L. Strikeout Leaders -- Drysdale, Koufax, O'Toole, Williams
61 Cardinals Team -- St. Louis Cardinals
62 Steve Boros -- Detroit Tigers
63 Tony Cloninger -- Milwaukee Braves
64 Russ Snyder -- Baltimore Orioles
65 Bobby Richardson -- New York Yankees
66 Cuno Barragon -- Barragan -- Chicago Cubs
67 Harvey Haddix -- Pittsburgh Pirates
68 Ken L. Hunt -- California Angels
70 Harmon Killebrew -- Minnesota Twins
71 Dick LeMay -- San Francisco Giants
72 Bob's Pupils -- Boros, Scheffing, Wood
73 Nellie Fox -- Chicago White Sox
74 Bob Lillis -- Houston Colt .45’s
75 Milt Pappas -- Baltimore Orioles
76 Howie Bedell -- Milwaukee Braves
77 Tony Taylor -- Philadelphia Phillies
78 Gene Green -- Cleveland Indians
79 Ed Hobaugh -- Washington Senators
82 Deron Johnson -- Kansas City Athletics
83 Larry Jackson -- St. Louis Cardinals
84 Lenny Green -- Minnesota Twins
85 Gil Hodges -- New York Mets
86 Donn Clendenon -- Pittsburgh Pirates
87 Mike Roarke -- Detroit Tigers
88 Ralph Houk -- New York Yankees

Series 2 -- 10/88
89 Barney Schultz -- Chicago Cubs
90 Jim Piersall -- Washington Senators
92 Sam Jones -- Detroit Tigers
93 John Blanchard -- New York Yankees
94 Jay Hook -- New York Mets
95 Don Hoak -- Pittsburgh Pirates
96 Eli Grba -- California Angels
97 Tito Francona -- Cleveland Indians
98 Checklist -- 89-176
100 Warren Spahn -- Milwaukee Braves
101 Carroll Hardy -- Boston Red Sox
102 Al Schroll -- Minnesota Twins
103 Don Blasingame -- Cincinnati Reds
104 Ted Savage -- Philadelphia Phillies
106 Carl Sawatski -- St. Louis Cardinals
107 Mike McCormick -- San Francisco Giants
109 Bob Shaw -- Milwaukee Braves
110 Bill Skowron -- New York Yankees
111 Dallas Green -- Philadelphia Phillies
112 Hank Foiles -- Baltimore Orioles
113 White Sox Team -- Chicago White Sox
114 Howie Koplitz -- Detroit Tigers
115 Bob Skinner -- Pittsburgh Pirates
116 Herb Score -- Chicago White Sox
117 Gary Geiger -- Boston Red Sox
118 Julian Javier -- St. Louis Cardinals
119 Danny Murphy -- Chicago Cubs
120 Bob Purkey -- Cincinnati Reds
121 Billy Hitchcock -- Baltimore Orioles
122 Norm Bass -- Kansas City Athletics
124 Bill Pleis -- Minnesota Twins
125 Gene Woodling -- Washington Senators
126 Al Cicotte -- Houston Colt .45’s
128 Art Fowler -- California Angels
129a Lee Walls -- facing left -- Los Angeles Dodgers
129b Lee Walls -- facing right -- Los Angeles Dodgers
130 Frank Bolling -- Milwaukee Braves
131 Pete Richert -- Los Angeles Dodgers
132a Angels Team -- with inset photos -- Los Angeles Angels
132b Angels Team -- no inset photos -- Los Angeles Angels
133 Felipe Alou -- San Francisco Giants
134a Billy Hoeft -- green sky -- Baltimore Orioles
134b Billy Hoeft -- blue sky -- Baltimore Orioles
135 Babe As A Boy -- Babe Ruth
136 Babe Joins Yanks -- Babe Ruth
137 Babe & Mgr Huggins -- Babe Ruth
138 The Famous Slugger -- Babe Ruth
139a Hal Reniff -- pitching -- New York Yankees
139b Hal Reniff -- portrait -- New York Yankees
139c Babe Hits 60 -- Babe Ruth
140 Gehrig & Ruth -- Babe Ruth
141 Twilight Years -- Babe Ruth
142 Coaching for Dodgers -- Babe Ruth
143 Greatest Sports Hero -- Babe Ruth
144 Farewell Speech -- Babe Ruth
145 Barry Latman -- Cleveland Indians
146 Don Demeter -- Philadelphia Phillies
147a Bill Kunkel -- pitching -- Kansas City Athletics
147b Bill Kunkel -- portrait -- Kansas City Athletics
148 Wally Post -- Cincinnati Reds
149 Bob Duliba -- St. Louis Cardinals
150 Al Kaline -- Detroit Tigers
151 Johnny Klippstein -- Cincinnati Reds
152 Mickey Vernon -- Washington Senators
153 Pumpsie Green -- Boston Red Sox
154 Lee Thomas -- Los Angeles Angels
155 Stu Miller -- San Francisco Giants
156 Merritt Ranew -- Houston Colt .45’s
157 Wes Covington -- Philadelphia Phillies
160 Dick Stuart -- Pittsburgh Pirates
162 Sammy Drake -- New York Mets
163 Hot Corner Guardians -- Boyer, Gardner
164 Hal Naragon -- Minnesota Twins
165 Jackie Brandt -- Baltimore Orioles
166 Don Lee -- Minnesota Twins
167 Tim McCarver -- St. Louis Cardinals
168 Leo Posada -- Kansas City Athletics
169 Bon Cerv -- New York Yankees
170 Ron Santo -- Chicago Cubs
171 Dave Sisler -- Cincinnati Reds
172 Fred Hutchinson -- Cincinnati Reds
174a Carl Willey -- with cap -- Milwaukee Braves
174b Carl Willey -- no cap -- Milwaukee Braves
176a Eddie Yost -- batting -- Los Angeles Angels
176b Eddie Yost -- portrait -- Los Angeles Angels

Series 3 -- /28/88
178 Camilo Carreon -- Chicago White Sox
180 Bob Allison -- Minnesota Twins
181 Paul Brown -- Philadelphia Phillies
182 Bob Nieman -- Cleveland Indians
184 Haywood Sullivan -- Kansas City Athletics
185 Roland Sheldon -- New York Yankees
186 Mack Jones -- Milwaukee Braves
187 Gene Conley -- Boston Red Sox
188 Chuck Hiller -- San Francisco Giants
190a Wally Moon -- with cap -- Los Angeles Dodgers
190b Wally Moon -- no cap -- Los Angeles Dodgers
192a Checklist -- 177-264 -- 192 is Check List, 3
194 Dean Chance -- Los Angeles Angels
195 Joe Cunningham -- Chicago White Sox
196 Terry Fox -- Detroit Tigers
197 Daryl Spencer -- Los Angeles Dodgers
198 Johnny Keane -- St. Louis Cardinals
200 Mickey Mantle -- New York Yankees
201 Ike Delock -- Boston Red Sox
202 Carl Warwick -- St. Louis Cardinals
204 Johnny Weekly -- Houston Colt .45’s
209 Jim Fregosi -- Los Angeles Angels212 Jim Owens -- Philadelphia Phillies
213 Richie Ashburn -- New York Mets
214 Dom Zanni -- Chicago White Sox
215 Woody Held -- Cleveland Indians
217 Walt Alston -- Los Angeles Dodgers
218 Joe Torre -- Milwaukee Braves
219 Al Downing -- New York Yankees
222 Jerry Zimmerman -- Minnesota Twins
223 Alex Grammas -- St. Louis Cardinals
225 Frank Malzone -- Boston Red Sox
226 Giants Team -- San Francisco Giants
229 Jesus McFarlane -- Pittsburgh Pirates
231 Ernie Bowman -- San Francisco Giants
233 World Series Game 2 -- Jay Ties It Up
234 World Series Game 3 -- Maris Wins It in the 9th
235 World Series Game 4 -- Ford Sets New Mark
236 World Series Game 5 -- Yanks Crush Reds in Finale
237 World Series Summary -- The Winners Celebrate
238 Norm Sherry -- Los Angeles Dodgers
243 Robin Roberts -- New York Yankees
244 Don Gile -- Boston Red Sox
245 Ron Hansen -- Baltimore Orioles
246 Art Ditmar -- Kansas City Athletics
248 Bob Aspromonte -- Houston Colt .45’s
249 Ed Keegan -- Philadelphia Phillies
250 Norm Cash -- Detroit Tigers
251 Yankees Team -- New York Yankees
252 Earl Francis -- Pittsburgh Pirates
253 Harry Chiti -- Cleveland Indians
254 Gordon Windhorn -- Kansas City Athletics
255 Juan Pizarro -- Chicago White Sox
256 Elio Chacon -- New York Mets
257 Jack Spring -- Los Angeles Angels
258 Marty Keough -- Cincinnati Reds
259 Lou Klimchock -- Milwaukee Braves
260 Bill Pierce -- San Francisco Giants
261 George Alusik -- Detroit Tigers
262 Bob Schmidt -- Washington Senators
263 The Right Pitch -- Jay, Purkey, Turner

Series 4 -- 24/88
265 Joe Adcock -- Milwaukee Braves
266 John Anderson -- St. Louis Cardinals
267 Dan Dobbek -- Cincinnati Reds
268 Ken McBride -- Los Angeles Angels
269 Bob Oldis -- Philadelphia Phillies
270 Dick Groat -- Pittsburgh Pirates
271 Ray Rippelmeyer -- Washington Senators
272 Earl Robinson -- Baltimore Orioles
273 Gary Bell -- Cleveland Indians
274 Sammy Taylor -- Chicago Cubs
275 Norm Siebern -- Kansas City Athletics
276 Hal Kolstad -- Boston Red Sox
277 Checklist -- 265-352
278 Ken Johnson -- Houston Colt .45’s
279 Hobie Landrith -- New York Mets
280 Johnny Podres -- Los Angeles Dodgers
281 Jake Gibbs -- New York Yankees
282 Dave Hillman -- Cincinnati Reds
283 Charlie Smith -- Chicago White Sox
284 Ruben Amaro -- Philadelphia Phillies
285 Curt Simmons -- St. Louis Cardinals
287 George Witt -- Los Angeles Angels
288 Billy Williams -- Chicago Cubs
289 Mike Krsnich -- Milwaukee Braves
290 Jim Gentile -- Baltimore Orioles
291 Hal Stowe -- New York Yankees
292 Jerry Kindall -- Cleveland Indians
295 Vern Law -- Pittsburgh Pirates
297 Ron Perranoski -- Los Angeles Dodgers
298 Bill Tuttle -- Minnesota Twins
299 Don Wert -- Detroit Tigers
300 Willie Mays -- San Francisco Giants
301 Galen Cisco -- Boston Red Sox
302 John Edwards -- Cincinnati Reds
304 Dick Farrell -- Houston Colt .45’s
306 Redbird Rippers -- Jackson, McDaniel
309 Moe Morhardt -- Chicago Cubs
310 Whitey Ford -- New York Yankees
312 Spahn Shows No-Hit Form -- Milwaukee Braves
313 Maris Blasts 61st -- New York Yankees
314 Colavito's Power -- Detroit Tigers
316 Killebrew Sends One into Orbit -- Minnesota Twins
318 The Switch Hitter Connects -- Mantle -- New York Yankees
320 Hank Aaron -- Milwaukee Braves
321 Lee Stange -- Minnesota Twins
324 Joe McClain -- Washington Senators
326 Tom Parsons -- Pittsburgh Pirates
328 Ken Walters -- Philadelphia Phillies
332 Don Buddin -- Houston Colt .45’s
334 Red Sox Team -- Boston Red Sox
335 Bill Bruton -- Detroit Tigers
336 Billy Muffett -- Boston Red Sox
337 Jim Marshall -- New York Mets
338 Billy Gardner -- New York Yankees
339 Jose Valdivielso -- Minnesota Twins
340 Don Drysdale -- Los Angeles Dodgers
342 Ed Rakow -- Kansas City Athletics
343 Albie Pearson -- Los Angeles Angels
345 Chuck Schilling -- Boston Red Sox
349 Paul Foytack -- Detroit Tigers
350 Frank Robinson -- Cincinnati Reds
351 Braves' Backstops -- Crandall, Torre
352 Frank Sullivan -- Philadelphia Phillies

Series 5 -- 13/77
353 Bill Mazeroski -- Pittsburgh Pirates
354 Roman Mejias -- Houston Colt .45’s
355 Steve Barber -- Baltimore Orioles
357 Jerry Walker -- Kansas City Athletics
358 Tommy Davis -- Los Angeles Dodgers
359 Bobby Locke -- Chicago Cubs
360 Yogi Berra -- New York Yankees
361 Bob Hendley -- Milwaukee Braves
364 Ken Hunt -- Cincinnati Reds
365 Charley Neal -- New York Mets
366 Phil Regan -- Detroit Tigers
367 Checklist -- 353-429
368 Bob Tillman -- Boston Red Sox
369 Ted Bowsfield -- Los Angeles Angels
370 Ken Boyer -- St. Louis Cardinals
371 Earl Battey -- Minnesota Twins
372 Jack Curtis -- Chicago Cubs
373 Al Heist -- Houston Colt .45’s
374 Gene Mauch -- Philadelphia Phillies
375 Ron Fairly -- Los Angeles Dodgers
377 Johnny Orsino -- San Francisco Giants
378 Bennie Daniels -- Washington Senators
379 Chuck Essegian -- Cleveland Indians
380 Lou Burdette -- Milwaukee Braves
381 Chico Cardenas -- Cincinnati Reds
382 Dick Williams -- Baltimore Orioles
383 Ray Sadecki -- St. Louis Cardinals
384 Athletics Team -- Kansas City Athletics
386 Don Mincher -- Minnesota Twins
387 Lou Brock -- Chicago Cubs
389 Smoky Burgess -- Pittsburgh Pirates
391 All Star -- Bill Mazeroski -- Pittsburgh Pirates
392 All Star -- Ken Boyer -- St. Louis Cardinals
393 All Star -- Roy McMillan -- Milwaukee Braves
394 All Star -- Hank Aaron -- Milwaukee Braves
395 All Star -- Willie Mays -- San Francisco Giants
396 All Star -- Frank Robinson -- Baltimore Orioles
398 All Star -- Don Drysdale -- Los Angeles Dodgers
399 All Star -- Warren Spahn -- Chicago White Sox
400 Elston Howard -- New York Yankees
401 AL & NL Homer Kings -- Maris, Cepeda
402 Gino Cimoli -- Kansas City Athletics
403 Chet Nichols -- Boston Red Sox
404 Tim Harkness -- Los Angeles Dodgers
407 Hank Aguirre -- Detroit Tigers
408 Gus Bell -- New York Mets
409 Pirates Team -- Pittsburgh Pirates
410 Al Smith -- Chicago White Sox
411 Danny O'Connell -- Washington Senators
412 Charlie James -- St. Louis Cardinals
413 Matty Alou -- San Francisco Giants
414 Joe Gaines -- Cincinnati Reds
415 Bill Virdon -- Pittsburgh Pirates
416 Bob Scheffing -- Detroit Tigers
417 Joe Azcue -- Kansas City Athletics
418 Andy Carey -- Los Angeles Dodgers
419 Bob Bruce -- Houston Colt .45’s
420 Gus Triandos -- Baltimore Orioles
421 Ken MacKenzie -- New York Mets
422 Steve Bilko -- Los Angeles Angels
423 Rival League Relief Aces -- Face, Wilhelm
425 Carl Yastrzemski -- Boston Red Sox
428 Joe Hicks -- Washington Senators
429 Bill O'Dell -- San Francisco Giants

Series 6 -- 7/77
430 Tony Kubek -- New York Yankees
431 Bob Rodgers -- Los Angeles Angels
432 Jim Pendleton -- Houston Colt .45’s
433 Jim Archer -- Kansas City Athletics
434 Clay Dalrymple -- Philadelphia Phillies
435 Larry Sherry -- Los Angeles Dodgers
436 Felix Mantilla -- New York Mets
437 Ray Moore -- Minnesota Twins
438 Dick Brown -- Detroit Tigers
439 Jerry Buchek -- St. Louis Cardinals
441 Checklist -- 430-506
443 Del Crandall -- Milwaukee Braves
444 Ted Wills -- Boston Red Sox
445 Vic Power -- Minnesota Twins
446 Don Elston -- Chicago Cubs
448 Joe Gibbon -- Pittsburgh Pirates
449 Jerry Adair -- Baltimore Orioles
450 Jim O'Toole -- Cincinnati Reds
452 Earl Averill -- Los Angeles Angels
454 Floyd Robinson -- Chicago White Sox
455 Luis Arroyo -- New York Yankees
456 Joe Amalfitano -- Houston Colt .45’s
457 Lou Clinton -- Boston Red Sox
458a Bob Buhl -- "M" on cap -- Chicago Cubs
458b Bob Buhl -- plain cap -- Chicago Cubs
459 Ed Bailey -- San Francisco Giants
460 Jim Bunning -- Detroit Tigers
461 Ken Hubbs -- Chicago Cubs
462a Willie Tasby -- "W" on cap -- Cleveland Indians
462b Willie Tasby -- plain cap -- Cleveland Indians
463 Hank Bauer -- Kansas City Athletics
464 Al Jackson -- New York Mets
465 Reds Team -- Cincinnati Reds
466 All Star -- Norm Cash -- Detroit Tigers
467 All Star -- Chuck Schilling -- Boston Red Sox
468 All Star -- Brooks Robinson -- Baltimore Orioles
469 All Star -- Luis Aparicio -- Chicago White Sox
470 All Star -- Al Kaline -- Detroit Tigers
471 All Star -- Mickey Mantle -- New York Yankees
472 All Star -- Rocky Colavito -- Detroit Tigers
473 All Star -- Elston Howard -- New York Yankees
474 All Star -- Frank Lary -- Detroit Tigers
475 All Star -- Whitey Ford -- New York Yankees
476 Orioles Team -- Baltimore Orioles
478 Don Zimmer -- Cincinnati Reds
479 Joel Horlen -- Chicago White Sox
480 Harvey Kuenn -- San Francisco Giants
481 Vic Wertz -- Detroit Tigers
482 Sam Mele -- Minnesota Twins
483 Don McMahon -- Milwaukee Braves
484 Dick Schofield -- Pittsburgh Pirates
485 Pedro Ramos -- Cleveland Indians
486 Jim Gilliam -- Los Angeles Dodgers
487 Jerry Lynch -- Cincinnati Reds
488 Hal Brown -- Baltimore Orioles
489 Julio Gotay -- St. Louis Cardinals
490 Clete Boyer -- New York Yankees
491 Leon Wagner -- Los Angeles Angels
492 Hal Smith -- Houston Colt .45’s
493 Danny McDevitt -- Kansas City Athletics
494 Sammy White -- Philadelphia Phillies
495 Don Cardwell -- Chicago Cubs
496 Wayne Causey -- Kansas City Athletics
497 Ed Bouchee -- New York Mets
498 Jim Donohue -- Los Angeles Angels
499 Zoilo Versalles -- Minnesota Twins
500 Duke Snider -- Los Angeles Dodgers
501 Claude Osteen -- Washington Senators
502 Hector Lopez -- New York Yankees
503 Danny Murtaugh -- Pittsburgh Pirates
504 Eddie Bressoud -- Boston Red Sox
506 Charley Maxwell -- Detroit Tigers

Series 7 -- 3/92
507 Ernie Broglio -- St. Louis Cardinals
508 Gordy Coleman -- Cincinnati Reds
509 Dave Giusti -- Houston Colt .45’s
510 Jim Lemon -- Minnesota Twins
511 Bubba Phillips -- Cleveland Indians
512 Mike Fornieles -- Boston Red Sox
513 Whitey Herzog -- Baltimore Orioles
514 Sherm Lollar -- Chicago White Sox
515 Stan Williams -- Los Angeles Dodgers
516 Checklist -- 507-598
517 Dave Wickersham -- Kansas City Athletics
518 Lee Maye -- Milwaukee Braves
519 Bob Johnson -- Washington Senators
520 Bob Friend -- Pittsburgh Pirates
521 Jacke Davis -- Philadelphia Phillies
522 Lindy McDaniel -- St. Louis Cardinals
523 Russ Nixon -- Boston Red Sox
524 Howie Nunn -- Cincinnati Reds
525 George Thomas -- Los Angeles Angels
526 Hal Woodeshick -- Houston Colt .45’s
527 Dick McAuliffe -- Detroit Tigers
528 Turk Lown -- Chicago White Sox
529 John Schaive -- Washington Senators
530 Bob Gibson -- St. Louis Cardinals
531 Bobby G. Smith -- St. Louis Cardinals
532 Dick Stigman -- Minnesota Twins
533 Charley Lau -- Baltimore Orioles
534 Tony Gonzalez -- Philadelphia Phillies
535 Ed Roebuck -- Los Angeles Dodgers
536 Dick Gernert -- Houston Colt .45’s
537 Indians Team -- Cleveland Indians
538 Jack Sanford -- San Francisco Giants
539 Billy Moran -- Los Angeles Angels
540 Jim Landis -- Chicago White Sox
541 Don Nottebart -- Milwaukee Braves
542 Dave Philley -- Boston Red Sox
543 Bob Allen -- Cleveland Indians
544 Willie McCovey -- San Francisco Giants
545 Hoyt Wilhelm -- Baltimore Orioles
546 Moe Thacker -- Chicago Cubs
547 Don Ferrarese -- St. Louis Cardinals
550 Art Mahaffey -- Philadelphia Phillies
551 Harry Bright -- Washington Senators
552 Cubs Team -- Chicago Cubs
553 Jim Coates -- New York Yankees
554 Bubba Morton -- Detroit Tigers
555 John Buzhardt -- Chicago White Sox
557 Bob Anderson -- Chicago Cubs
558 John Goryl -- Minnesota Twins
559 Mike Higgins -- Boston Red Sox
560 Chuck Estrada -- Baltimore Orioles
561 Gene Oliver -- St. Louis Cardinals
562 Bill Henry -- Cincinnati Reds
563 Ken Aspromonte -- Cleveland Indians
564 Bob Grim -- Kansas City Athletics
565 Jose Pagan -- San Francisco Giants
566 Marty Kutyna -- Washington Senators
567 Tracy Stallard -- Boston Red Sox
568 Jim Golden -- Houston Colt .45’s
569 Ed Sadowski -- Minnesota Twins
570 Bill Stafford -- New York Yankees
571 Billy Klaus -- Philadelphia Phillies
572 Bob Miller -- New York Mets
573 Johnny Logan -- Pittsburgh Pirates
574 Dean Stone -- Houston Colt .45’s
575 Red Schoendienst -- St. Louis Cardinals
576 Russ Kemmerer -- Chicago White Sox
577 Dave Nicholson -- Baltimore Orioles
578 Jim Duffalo -- San Francisco Giants
579 Jim Schaffer -- St. Louis Cardinals
580 Bill Monbouquette -- Boston Red Sox
581 Mel Roach -- Philadelphia Phillies
582 Ron Piche -- Milwaukee Braves
583 Larry Osborne -- Detroit Tigers
584 Twins Team -- Minnesota Twins
585 Glen Hobbie -- Chicago Cubs
586 Sammy Esposito -- Chicago White Sox
587 Frank Funk -- Cleveland Indians
588 Birdie Tebbetts -- Milwaukee Braves
589 Bob Turley -- New York Yankees
590 Curt Flood -- St. Louis Cardinals
591 Rookie Parade Pitchers -- McDowell, Nischwitz,Quirk, Radatz, Taylor
592 Rookie Parade Pitchers -- Belinsky, Bonikowski, Bouton, Pfister, Stenhouse
593 Rookie Parade Pitchers -- Anderson, Hamilton, Lamabe, Moorhead, Veale
594 Rookie Parade Catchers -- Camilli, Edwards, Pavletich, Retzer, Uecker
595 Rookie Parade Infielders -- Charles, Coughtry, Sadowski, Torres
596 Rookie Parade Infielders -- Allen, Linz, Pepitone, Rollins
597 Rookie Parade Infielders -- Kanehl, McKnight, Menke,Samuel
598 Rookie Parade Outfielders -- Goss, Hickman, Jimenez, Luplow, Olivares

Stamp out Procrastination

Ok, so I've been slacking. I've got packages to send, Pirate card sets to put together. old cards to show off, sets to collate, e-mails to respond to, neat stuff to post. And I ain't done none of it. I didn't even post my happy birthday tribute to Margaret Thatcher yesterday. In my defense, between traffic, work, kids, studying and my required 5 hours of fitful sleep a night, there's not much time to blog. I'm not going two straight days without posting something so here's a stamp.

1962 Topps stamp of the best Milwaukee Braves catcher of all time, Del Crandall. These little stickies were inserted into Topps packs in panels of two players. You can see some of Del's panel partner on the right.This stamp has a little piece of a Clete Boyer or Ray Sadecki stamp. Bonus! This is my third stamp from the 200 player set and Del joins fellow Brave Roy McMillan and an off center Milwaukee Braves logo. I got this stamp this weekend from the same dealer I got the logo stamp from. I've got 15 more posts from that haul, I should be done with them by August, 2014. That might be the next time I buy cards again too the way things are going. Of course this stuff is apparently live, so it's not like I'm missing much.

The Lost Box of Total Awesomeness - ¿Qué?

Ok, after long last we have truly stepped in the realm of TOTALLY FREAKING AWESOME. This is the part of the movie where Danny putts, the Sta-Puft Marshmallow man shows up, Han Solo swoops in and shoots Vader's ship and the evil nazi dude opens the ark. We have now reached the portion of the box with...

OLD TOPPS CARDS

Yeaaaaaaaah boooooooooy! You thought I was blowing smoke up yer arse with all this awesome talk eh? See, I told you this box was awesome. There are no less than 53 cards in the box from the years 1959 to 1968. Finding just that right there, without all the other stuff in there too, is undeniably grade-A certified Total Awesome.

Here's how I got all the cards in this post. Back in 1987, I got a birthday gift from my aunt. The gift was two tapes; The Joshua Tree by U2, and Elton John's Greatest Hits. She got the U2 because the guy at the store said that's what teenage boys were listening to then, and Elton John was her favorite artist. Let's just say I was not entirely interested in these musical choices. I didn't start liking U2 until college and Elton, um, I wasn't really into the "Sad Songs Say So Much" era of Elton. I took them back to the mall to trade them in for some Weird Al or maybe a George Carlin tape and lo and behold, there was a card show that day! Forget music, I wanted cards. I return them both and get 25 bucks in my greedy little hands. I go out to check out the tables and this guy comes up out of nowhere and offers me a 1953 Jackie Robinson card for 25 bucks. I turned him down and he want away, never to be seen again. This is one of the great regrets in my life. In my defense, he wasn't a seller at the show, just some guy. For all I knew he had just pilfered the card off a table and if I had bought it I could have been thrown in the pokey for being a card thief. Besides, I only had three bucks in my pocket and I wanted to check out all the tables. Really, scrounging around the cards at every single table is the true joy of going to a card show. So I turned him down. I missed out on a 1953 Jackie Robinson card. I am such an idiot.

Anyway, ennui aside, I now had free reign to look around at all the tables. One guy had 100 count plastic boxes filled with cards for a couple of bucks each. This is my kind of deal. I looked at every one of them, most were filled with cards from the '80s but there was one Dodgers box that had an older card on top. I recognized it was from the '60s and there apopeared to be more of them in the box. I grabbed it along with a couple more of those boxes and paid the man. I also found a few cards here and there, maybe even some packs and blew threw my birthday money at the show. A big pile of cards was much better than one Jackie Robinson card* which was a hell of a lot better than a couple of tapes. Here are the old cards from that box.

Six 1962 Topps cards

#11 Tom Morgan - This is the only LA Angel in this post. I'm not sure how he was able to sneak into the Dodgers box.

#32 John Roseboro - Al all-Star cather for the Dodgers, he's best remembered nowadays for his fight with Juan Marichal.


#108 Willie Davis - Longtime Dodger center fielder who had speed and power.

#175 Frank Howard - He is remembered more for being the Washington Senators' slugging All-Star, but Frank started his career with the Dodgers.

#190 Wally Moon - A charter member of the National Eyebrows Hall of Fame. Oh, he could hit a ton, too.

The 1962 sets is one of the great ones and these are some really solid Dodger players from that set. Let's check out the cartoon on the back of Wally's card:

Sera.. Sera... SE FUE!

Wait, what???

That's Spanish! These cards are in Spanish! What the hell is going on around here?

Did you know that in 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967 and 1968 Topps made cards for sale in Venezuela?

Well you do now. All the old cards from the '60s in that grab box were Venezuelan issues. I guess the dealer thought he was pulling a fast one by fooling me with these oddball cards instead of the real things. Boy, was I a dope! Of course nowadays these cards are much much harder to find than the regular 1962s and they book for about 10 times more than a common card. Here's another back:

Aww, these cards were owned by Oswaldo. Thanks Ozzie, I've taken good care of your cards. Except for the whole "losing them in the basement for 10 years" thing. Here's some more Venezuelan cards:

Fourteen 1964 Topps Venezuela cards

#14 Dick Nen & Nick Willhite Rookie stars - Nen played 6 seasons for a .224 career batting average, Willhite pitched 4 years and ended up with a 6-12 record.

#51 Pete Richert - Pete hung around the league as a reliever long enough to win a World Series with Baltimore in 1970.

#101 Walt Alston - Hall of Fame manager for Dem Bums won 4 World Series including the only one in Brooklyn.

#137 - 1963 World Series Game 2 - Willie Davis hits a 2 run double in the first inning at Yankee Stadium, which is all the Dodgers needed that day.

#138 - 1963 World Series Game 3 - Jim Bouton and Don Drysdale have an epic pitching battle as the Dodgers win 1-0.

#140 World Series Champs - A recap of the Dodgers' sweep of the Yanks.

#214 Ken McMullen - Ken wasn't a great third baseman, but he was good enough to play for 16 years.

#291 Phil Ortega - The Dodgers must have had a special one way flight from LA to Washington, because this is the third or fourth player in this group who played for both the Dodgers and the Senators.

#353 Wally Moon - Just. Look. At. Those. Beautiful. EYEBROWS!!! They're like Groucho Marx, Frank Zappa and Brooke Shields all rolled into one!

The 1962 set was the only Venezuelan product that was printed in Spanish. 1964 Venezuela is easily differentiated from the American set by the back:

Instead of having a pink back, the cards are printed in black and white. Instead of a scratch off answer to a trivia question, the answers are printed in red:

Oddly enough it still has instructions to rub a coin over the answer to reveal. This is a neat way to see the answers to the questions without scratching up all your old '64 cards. These were the cards that really freaked me out when I opened the grab box. I didn't even notice the Spanish at first but it's impossible to mistake black the black backs. I thought I had gotten robbed at first and had gotten counterfeit cards, but the Spanish on the '62s tipped me off that these were some oddball issue. There's one more set of Venezuelan cards to show off:

Two 1962 Topps Venezuela cards

#13 Lou Johnson - I only got Lou from the '66 set. This set is really tricky. Check out the back:

This is the big difference between the 1966 American and Venezuelan sets: No gloss on the front and the ink on the back is a little bit darker. That's it. Other than that they are identical other than the 15x book prices. If I hadn't gotten the other ones in the box that were obviously not normal I would never have noticed these. So of you have any weird looking '66 cards that are dark with no gloss you might have a Venezuelan card.

If there are any hard core Dodger collectors or aficionados of Venezuelan cards out there I do have a few doubles I could trade. If you offer me something I need from here, I'll be all ears. I'm probably never going to see another one of these cards as long as I live though, so super serious collectors only.

So was that Awesome enough for you? Was that the Awesomest? YOU AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET! I have something coming up for you that will amaze and astound you. But first, a few cards to warm you up. Up Next - SIXTIES ODDBALLS.

* OH I AM SUCH A FOOL